After the partial mobilization announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russians, who are against the war in Ukraine, continue to protest despite the ban.
The Russian human rights organization OVD-Info announced that 724 people were detained in 32 cities on Saturday alone.
The mobilization, which Putin announced last Wednesday, means that more than 300,000 men could be called up as reserve forces. This is Russia ‘s first mobilization since World War II.
Despite the ban on unauthorized demonstrations in Russia, Russians against the war are protesting the decision. More than 1000 people were detained in the last week during the protests that started after the declaration of mobilization.
AFP correspondents in Russia reported that a woman was detained when she said “you can’t throw us into the fire”. Speaking to reporters in St Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, one person said, “I don’t want to go to war for Putin.”
It is stated that some of those detained on Saturday were given subpoenas by the security forces and ordered to surrender to the military offices.
The Kremlin has also increased penalties for “those who evade military service when called to duty”. With the decree he signed yesterday, Putin brought prison sentences of up to 10 years for those who flee from the military or war, or who attempt to escape.
According to a separate decree approved by Putin, Russian citizenship will be granted to anyone who pledges to fight for a year in the Russian army. In order to become a Russian citizen, one must have lived in the country for at least 5 years or served in the Russian army for at least 3 years.
According to some experts, this decree signed by Putin is an indication that Moscow is suffering from a serious “military shortage”.
After the declaration of mobilization, the Russians, who wanted to leave the country, formed long queues at the land borders, and plane tickets to cities such as Istanbul reached astronomical prices.
